


I Promise

by LobsterMobster



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Lovers through the eyes of an enemy, Poor Claudia, Rayllum, Resurrection, The other side of the final battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21563164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LobsterMobster/pseuds/LobsterMobster
Summary: When the battle came to an end, Claudia found her father's shattered, lifeless body at the bottom of the Storm Spire. She was able to save him, but she's lost everything else: Her home, her friends, her brother. And she knew exactly who to blame for all of it. She soon learns that she's lost Callum in more ways than she'd thought.In which Claudia learns what Callum and Rayla have come to mean to each other.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 584





	I Promise

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Rayllum fic covered by a very heavy veil of Claudia angst. I'm so fascinated by what role Claudia will play in future seasons and what her reaction will be to finding out that Callum fell in love with the elf who killed her father, even if it was temporary.
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Viren woke with a sudden gasp of panic, groaning as he brought a hand over his eyes. “What…What’s going on?”

Claudia could practically hear the thoughts that must be racing through his head. She’d seen him disappear up the Storm Spire to find the baby dragon, and later saw the purple glow of dark magic emanating from the top. She’d thought he’d succeeded, she’d thought they’d finally won. 

But the light had disappeared, and from her hiding place on the battlefield, she’d heard the shouts of victory from the elves a short time later. It was over? How could it be over...unless?

Her father looked up at her, confused and breathing heavily. 

She felt the last dregs of dark magic drain from her body, replaced with relief and a heavy fatigue. She watched his chest, which had been cold and still for the last three days, now move up and down with his breath. She felt tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

“You’re alive,” she said, her voice cracking slightly.

She’d managed to find him before the elves did, the sight of his smashed, lifeless body lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the spire almost broke her in the process. She brought him to a safe place, a small cave hollowed out in the side of the towering mountain. 

Then, she’d waited. After scouring the dead for cloaks and disguises, which had been disgusting, she’d waited for the right moment. Elves and traitors alike had spent the last few days tending to the wounded and disposing of their dead. 

Eventually, one human troop wandered a little too far out of her way, and Claudia took the opportunity without hesitation. 

Her father glanced down and saw the crown that he’d worn with such pride over the last few weeks, now bloody and bent on the floor of the cave. He swallowed hard, resting a hand over his chest.

He closed his eyes, seeming to rack his mind for some explanation about where they were and how he was alive.

“Somehow I...I survived the fall?” He glanced back at her, searching for an explanation.

The tears grew in her eyes. She looked away before answering, the picture of him lying dead on the cold ground still too fresh in her mind.

“No. You didn’t,” she said, her voice heavy. She stood up to walk over to him and place a soothing hand on his cheek. 

He was warm.

His eyes widened as he took in the meaning of her words. He glanced at her hair, which had now become almost fully bisected by white. She saw the realization spread across his face. He understood what happened, and what she’d had to do to bring him back.

He gasped.

Claudia offered him a small, reassuring smile.

“But...you’re okay now,” she said, just as much for herself as for him. 

Claudia took back her hand, both of them sitting in silence for a moment as the weight of it all surrounded them. The battle was over and they’d lost; they’d lost the dragon; they’d lost the throne and they’d lost Soren.

Claudia’s chest still twisted at the thought that her brother would have killed their father to protect the dragon and the elves. She didn’t want to believe that he was now one of the traitors, but he was. 

She saw her father pat the spot on his shoulder where his not-so-little bug companion used to rest.

“Where is --” 

“Your creepy caterpillar friend?” Claudia didn’t hide the dissatisfaction that the slimy creature was still a priority for him. She couldn’t help but chuckle mirthlessly. “Two days ago it climbed up that wall, and spun itself...into that.” 

She pointed at the massive, pulsing chrysalis that hung suspended in a corner of the cave.

“It’s changing,” she said as they looked at the twisted form inside squirm and grow. It was revolting, and Claudia had considered setting it alight while her father was still...unconscious. She’d decided against it, however. Whatever this thing was becoming, it already seemed to radiate power. 

They sat there in silence for a while, Viren taking several deep breaths as he seemed to reacquaint himself with the sensation of air in his lungs. Eventually, hee closed his eyes, resting his head against the cool rock behind him. 

Claudia shifted uncomfortably, twisting a piece of white hair between her fingers as she contemplated whether she even wanted to hear the answer to the question she was going to ask.

“Um, Dad?” Her voice was quite, but her father opened an eye to look at her just the same. His kind smile urged her forward. “What - what happened up there? How did you...you know...fall?”

His brows furrowed and his eyes hardened before answering. “It was a moonshadow elf girl,” he said with deadly certainty. “She was guarding the little creature when I arrived. I subdued her, but she must have escaped. She threw herself at me and pulled us both over the edge of the spire.”

Claudia gasped.

There was exactly one moonshadow elf who’d been present for the battle and Claudia had seen her alive and well among the others on the battlefield after it was all over. 

Rayla.

“But, I saw her yesterday, she was alive. How did she survive when you...didn’t?”

Her father’s frown intensified, apparently unsure of what he’d seen. “It was a...bird,” he said quietly. 

“A bird? How would a bird - ?”

“A _massive_ bird with brown wings came out of the clouds and grabbed the elf girl. I don’t know what it was or how it got there, but it saved her as I fell.”

His eyes closed again, a hand coming up to massage his temples. 

“I had the power of the dragon prince in the palm of my hand, Claudia. Power that great could have secured humanity’s survival. I could have changed _everything_. I should have been able to stop one pitiful elf.” He sighed heavily and let his shoulders droop. He looked exhausted.

Claudia, on the other hand, was livid. 

She felt bile rise in her throat as she remembered playing nice with Rayla while she and Soren tried to bring the princes home. That vile assassin had tricked them and poisoned Callum and Ezran against her. 

She had killed her father.

Claudia should have destroyed her when she had the chance. 

Her father slipped a little further down the stone wall, bringing Claudia away from her thoughts of revenge for now.

“You should get some sleep, Dad,” she said, gently helping him settle into a better position, Claudia’s old cloak under his head as a pillow.

Her father clasped her hand, looking up at her with sleepy, grateful eyes.

“Thank you, my daughter, for saving my life.”

A single tear finally escaped from her eye as Claudia clutched his hand as tightly as she dared.

“I’ll always be here for you, Dad. I promise,” she sniffed and wiped the tear away as he closed his eyes. 

She watched him sleep for a while, terrified that the slow rises and falls of his chest would stop once again. Tears spilled freely and silently over her cheeks now and she made no move to stop them. Her entire world had shattered, all because of that elven bitch. Claudia lost her friends, her home, her brother and she’d almost lost her father. 

She thought about yesterday. She’d pulled a dead soldier’s cloak tightly around her as she scoured the area for any ingredients that she might be able to use to save her father.

Claudia had mostly kept her distance from the spire, but while she’d been sealing a pair of moon moths in a jar, she’d looked up and seen the elf girl sitting on a ledge above the battlefield. The white of her hair was like a beacon under the moonlight and Claudia had known immediately who she was.

Claudia had glared in her direction, angry but not surprised to see that Rayla had been a part of the battle. But she’d continued back to her cave without making another move. 

Her hands involuntarily clenched into fists. 

She would kill her if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

When Claudia heard the elf’s voice outside their cave the next afternoon, she thought for sure she must be hallucinating. But when she ventured a peak around the rocky threshold, she could hardly believe when she saw Rayla standing in the field with Callum, their backs turned to her as they gazed at the petrified body of Thunder. 

Claudia thanked every god she could think of as she scrambled back to grab the sunfire scepter from the floor of the cave. She could do it right now. She could destroy the elf and free her friend from whatever spell she had him under. 

She’d wrenched one of the moon moths she’d collected yesterday from its jar, squishing it in her hand with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm.

_“Srae ruoy em dnel,”_ she muttered. The spell settled in a purple haze around her ears, letting her hear Callum and Rayla’s voices with clarity.

Claudia’s hair was wild from spending yet another night sleeping in the dirt, her eyes wild with hate and vengeance. She took aim with the scepter and waited for the right moment, keeping herself hidden in the shadows of the cave.

“It’s over, it’s really over,” Callum said looking up at the archdragon’s stony corpse. “I can’t believe it.” 

Claudia noticed that his usual blue jacket was nowhere to be seen, his bare arms instead covered with white runes she didn’t recognize. 

“We broke the cycle,” Rayla said, turning to look at him. “It doesn’t seem real does it?” 

Callum turned to face her as well and Claudia saw a small smile spread across his lips. 

“No, it doesn’t. But there’s a lot about the last month that doesn’t seem real.” 

Claudia’s aim faltered as she watched Callum take Rayla’s hand in his own, distinctly recognizing the look in his eyes. 

No. 

She knew that look. She’d seen him wear it at the moon nexus when they’d been about to kiss. Her hands began to tremble on the scepter’s hilt.

Claudia had always found Callum’s feelings for her endearing. She loved making him blush when she stood just a little too close or touched him for just a little too long. She knew she didn’t have the same kinds of feelings for him that he did for her, but she always assumed they would be matched in an arranged marriage at some point. 

He was the stepson to the king and she was the daughter of the archmage, plus they were friends. It made sense. She could be happy as the wife of her friend and a princess of Katolis. 

But she knew something had broken between them when Callum saw her capture the illusions of himself and his brother and then try to stop them from flying off on the moon phoenix. But she always thought that once all this mess was over, once her father had made everything right, she’d be able to explain herself and Callum would look at her like he used to. 

Instead, the elf had stolen from her yet again. 

Claudia felt another piece of her heart shatter as she watched Callum lean in and kiss Rayla with confidence she didn’t think the prince was capable of.

“I love you,” Claudia heard him say. 

“I love you too, Callum,” Rayla replied, her cheeks bright pink. 

They stood together hand-in-hand, Callum leaning his head against her shoulder for a little longer as Claudia tried to get her breathing under control. 

“We should get back to the others,” Rayla said, her tone suggesting that she’d rather stay right where they are. 

“You want a lift?” Callum asked cheekily.

Rayla laughed. “You’re never going to walk anywhere ever again are you?”

Callum smirked, kissing her hand before letting it go and taking a few steps back from her. “Probably not.”

Claudia perked back up, seeing her window opening as Callum moved to a safe distance. 

She raised the scepter once again. 

She could do this. She could end it all and bring Callum back to her. 

She’d only just started whispering an incantation under her breath when it happened. 

“Manus. Pluma. Volantus.” The runes decorating Callum’s arms illuminated one at a time before erupting with waves of brown feathers. 

Claudia’s eyes widened, the scepter slipping from her grasp and clattering to the ground. The sound was thankfully drowned out by the sound of Callum’s transformation. 

A massive bird with brown wings had appeared from the clouds and saved the elf girl while her father plummeted to his death.

No.

No.No.No.No.

Callum extended the wings, positioning them to take off as Rayla approached and snaked her arms around his neck. 

“You ready?” He asked her, beaming proudly. 

“Ready,” she said, kissing him again and holding tight as Callum jumped from the ground and flapped the mighty wings, propelling them into the air. 

Claudia fell to her knees, a sob tearing itself from her lips as she watched them go. She wanted to scream; she wanted to set this whole damn field on fire; she wanted to kill that elf for taking everything from her. 

She heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching behind her and Claudia let her father pull her into his arms. He stroked her hair like he used to do when she was a little girl and used to have night terrors.

“It’s going to be alright,” he whispered soothingly to her. “We’ll fix this, I promise.

“I promise.”


End file.
